News

Estimates of British games industry value revised upwards to $2.8 billion

Mobile boosts the figures

Estimates of British games industry value revised upwards to $2.8 billion

The UK games industry's 1,902 games businesses could be worth as much as £1.72 billion ($2.8 billion): a figure that's double the official estimates given in both 2011 and 2012.

That's according to Ukie, which, in partnership with Nesta, has revealed the true value of the UK games industry in its 'big data' report

By measuring the industry using 'big data', rather than the official SIC codes, Ukie and Nesta found that there are more companies making games for iOS than any other platform, while the number of new game companies has also grown by 22 percent since 2011.

The study also revealed that there are 12 'games hubs' in the UK, with towns and cities including Brighton, Cambridge, Cardiff, Dundee, Edinburgh, Guildford, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Oxford, and Stratford-upon-Avon leading the development charge.

Real success

Ukie CEO Jo Twist believes that the findings prove the UK is becoming a global force, and is well on its way to becoming the best place in the world for gaming.

"We know that the UK’s games sector is again becoming a real global success story and seeing Nesta’s estimates of there being over 1,900 games businesses in the UK, potentially generating £1.7bn in GVA, reinforces this more than ever," said Twist.

"It’s great to see such a wide geographical reach, with games clusters now existing across Britain.

"We now need to build on these statistics to help support these clusters and encourage more investment and support for the sector, to make the UK truly the best place in the world to make and sell games. That is what our policy manifesto framework aims to achieve."

Industry veteran, and Ukie vice chairman, Ian Livingstone has explained that the study highlights how important it is for the UK games industry to receive public, political, and financial backing.

22can's Godus was developed in Guildford - one of 12 national hubs

"As a sector, the video games industry is hugely diverse and fluid, with specialist talent working in clusters across the UK," said Livingstone

"This research shows where and why clusters of game development emerge in the UK, and the importance of access to finance, infrastructure and talent. It is important that the superb content developed by UK games studios gets the right backing to help scale to global markets.

"With this report we have a powerful, real-time tool to help existing and new investors identify potential investment opportunities in the sector."

Tags:

What do you call someone who has an unhealthy obsession with video games and Sean Bean? That'd be a 'Chris Kerr'. Chris is one of those deluded souls who actually believes that one day Sean Bean will survive a movie. Poor guy.